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Flower Power Is Real
By
Suzette Martinez
Standring |
 Milton
- Flower Power has a new meaning for older adults. About
30 minutes of moderate- intensity exercise on most days to
combat aging-related diseases is recommended by the Center
for Disease Control and Prevention and The American College
of Sports Medicine.
And gardening fills the bill, according to a 2008 study by
Kansas State University. Mowing, digging holes, planting and
pushing a wheelbarrow are just as beneficial as jogging,
swimming or weight bearing exercise.
After a long snowy season, I typically jumpstart my love
affair with flowers and fauna by attending the New England
Flower Show. The admission and parking are akin to a medical
fee. I may grouse but I know I’ll feel better.
One visit I recall was like a visit to Lourdes. We were all
pilgrims, crippled from cold, but hopeful in the healing
force of flowers.
Inside, colorful shrubs and blossoms burst into view.
Giddily, I ran up to a bank of pink azaleas and later, stood
humbly before a leafy River Birch. More, more, give me more.
At an orchid shrine, I bowed before magentablotched blooms.
Oh, the sanguine elegance of Cymbidium. We were a pack of
color-hungry wolves, falling upon the pansies and tearing
into visions of pink, lavender and lemon.
Elsewhere abounded the innocence of allwhite tulips,
hyacinths, pansies and rhododendron. An admiring couple
cooed about the “pristine softness of white.” I wanted to
sneer, “White? Oh, bite me.”
Splash me with coral. Move me with mauve. I am so ready for
a come-here-sailor shade of scarlet! But I said nothing,
startled by a woman in a yellow sweatshirt and black pants,
topped by an antenna of sparkly green shamrocks on her head.
She was a giant bumblebee flitting among the Japanese
maples.
Finally, flowering shrubs, blooms and bonsai sated me. Now I
was primed with gardening dreams. This could be dangerous. I
have been known to order ten yards of soil impulsively. Soon
new rakes and shovels will stand at attention in my garage.
I’m ready to re-gas my roto-tiller and break new ground
while visions of tomato plants dance through my head.
Don’t be discouraged if you can’t work outdoors. Tending to
indoor plants can lower stress levels, too, according to
research by Kansas State University. In that 2008 study,
about 90 recovering appendectomy patients were assigned
randomly to hospital rooms, with or without potted plants.
“Patients with plants in their rooms had significantly fewer
intakes of pain medication, more positive physiological
responses (lower blood pressure and heart rate), less pain,
anxiety and fatigue, and better overall positive and higher
satisfaction with their recovery rooms than their
counterparts in the control group without plants in their
rooms,” as reported in a 2008 article in The Journal of the
American Society for Horticultural Science.
Researchers think that because patients pruned, watered and
moved their plants into better light, a positive mindset was
created. Also, indoor plants do improve air quality and
reduce the quantity of mold spores and airborne germs.
Flowering plants, not cut flowers, seemed to be most
beneficial to patients.
It makes sense. Caring for something alive and beautiful has
got to be better than channel surfing an overhead TV during
a hospital recovery.
American seniors age 65 and older list gardening as one of
the most popular pastimes, and now it’s official, it’s great
exercise that can dispel depression and improve mental
health.
That’s not surprising since working with nature captivates
our senses with earthy aromas, fills our ears with birdsong
and creates a visionary feast of color. Besides, gardening
carries none of the boredom of a treadmill. Color, heat and
health – that’s Flower Power! |
About The Author
Contact Suzette Standring at suzmar@comcast. net. She
is the author of the awardwinning The Art of Column Writing.
Visit http://wwwreadsuzette.com.
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